VS2010 Gone Live in Down Under

I think this is probably the first hosted solution developed and gone live with the VS.NET 2010 beta 2 go-live license in Australia (correct me if I am wrong – comments welcome). here’s the news: http://australianalm.wordpress.com/2009/11/10/net-4-0-beta-2-hosting-at-emantra/

this is the site: http://www.australianalm.com.au/spkrportal/Default.aspx Great to see it

K2 blackpoint promotion

K2 are giving away free K2 blackpoint support tickets. Regardless of how good your solution implementation is, having access to a quality support system and skilled people cannot be an after thought. It is critical for the success of every business system. As part of a promotion, K2 are giving away 5 free K2 blackpoint support tickets. If you are thinking about process applications on SharePoint, think no more. jEyLaBs has a track record of successful K2 implementations and we have a K2 blackpoint case study ready to be released. We also work with selected SI’s to ensure successful implementations for K2 customers. If you want to make the move with K2 then think no more, talk to us now.

The New Kid on the block called 4.5

Oh yeah, now we have an official name for what was code named “090x”. It is K2 4.5 and, we will have K2 blackpearl 4.5, K2 blackpoint 4.5 and K2 connect for SAP 4.5 entering beta cycles shortly. This release is a major milestone for K2 as the fourth generation K2 technology released in August 2007 now matures into the next level.

One of my favourite features of K2 to look forward to in this release is called the “Inline Functions”. With Inline Functions, one can construct complex rule evaluations very easily without writing code. There is an impressive array of pre-built functions made available. There are things like GetXmlValue() for working with Infopath content, PadLeft() and other string manipulation functions, Conversion functions for type casting and your standard logical functions.

In the screen shots below you will see the inline functions in action:

Inline functions can be called everywhere within a K2 process. Combining them with smart objects will open up interesting scenarios. There is also an API made available for extending these out-of-the-box functions with your own custom goodies.

SharePoint Saturday

Nov 14th is Sharepoint Saturday in Melbourne. SharePoint Saturday is a Free educational day of sessions from respected SharePoint technologists covering a range of topics. If you would like to attend then you need to register to confirm your place as spaces are limited! It is at Cliftons on Colins street. There is also a K2 session presented by Hennie Laubscher, Director of K2 for Australia & NewZealand. Be there!

So whats the big news

I was in Vegas last week attending the K2 Insider conference. I also attended SPC09. I thoroughly enjoyed the time there meeting people and learning all the cool things that the Microsoft  platform is going to leverage in the next 12 months. There was a ton of K2 stuff and SharePoint stuff. Needless to say I am very excited.

The highlights from the K2 Insider conference are: (090x is coming baby! and with grunt!!)

- inline functions
- better install and configuration experience
- performance improvements
- VS.NET 2008
- silverlight process designer V2
- email templates
- central admin improvements

I am actually presenting at MOSSIG tonight so happy to have a chat – please try to make it.

UPDATE: Here’s more info on what to expect from K2 when Microsoft ships Office 2010 and SharePoint 2010